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China to force all chemical plants out of urban areas by 2020, cabinet says

September, 8, 2017 – All of the chemical plants currently located in urban areas in China will be forced to relocate by the year 2020, according to a statement released by the country’s cabinet following an explosion at a refinery in the city of Dalian.

Well, that’s mostly the case anyway – “large” chemical plants will apparently have until 2025 to relocate out of urban areas, according to the statement.

Reuters provides some further information: “A fire at PetroChina’s Dalian refinery, one of its largest, has raised worries about safety and pollution from the refining sector. Chemical companies that are not able to relocate will be shut, the cabinet said. In addition, the cabinet will give a tax rebate and subsidy to companies that need to be moved.”

The timing is especially interesting because it also follows not that long after the Hurricane Harvey disaster began in Houston, Texas – a disaster which has seen the release of vast quantities of toxic substances into the immediate vicinity of the 4th largest city in the US. Some of these toxic substances coming from refineries, it should be noted.

In other words, China seems to be learning from the mistakes of the US, while the US still seems to mostly be refusing to learn even from just its own mistakes. … I’m talking here mostly the refusal in the US to adequately prepare for what’s coming as regards climate change and sea level rise.

That’s not to say of course that China doesn’t have problems of its own relating to pollution, corruption, and political/elite indifference, which may or may not be solved over the coming decades (to some degree or another) – simply that much of the US doesn’t even seem to truly be trying anymore. Oh, how the world has changed.